Kingdom Hearts Re:sistor
by Suzymiya
Summary: In Xion, Larxene sees Strelitzia's face, and in Sora, Larxene finds Strelitzia's kindness. Everything changes.


If I owned Kingdom Hearts, Kairi would be useful.

* * *

Larxene didn't particularly enjoy the idea of replicas.

Mind, the concept was… sound. She got the premise. Replicating the power of a Keyblade wielder through stolen memories seemed just about convoluted enough for that old coot Vexen, let alone the entirety of Organization XIII. But still, the whole idea of it, all put together, was just… flimsy.

It wasn't natural. None of it was natural. Maybe she shouldn't care about "natural" anymore; after all, Nobodies weren't "natural" either; but in her endless lack of emotions, she felt a strange sensation pretending to be disgust.

Disgust. Psh, of course that'd be the first emotion she almost-felt.

Still, Vexen was a sorry sack of test tubes and nigh-frozen air conditioning, if anything, so if anyone in this jumbled villain crew could get the job done, it would be him. Of course, her money was on him failing. Luxord believed he would succeed in parts, Marluxia just smiled his vague smile and told her to give it time, and Saïx promptly told everyone to shut up, so that was the end of that internal monologue.

Until the puppet showed up, of course.

Seven or eight days into having that runt Roxas join, and the other runt showed up. Faceless little girl, she didn't even have a voice! But Larxene knew what she was, just like the rest of the Organization. Vexen's little pet project had come alive, and here she was, putting on a coat like the rest of them.

She even got a name. Xion. Which was all sorts of dogged up, since this thing shouldn't even have a Somebody. Hopefully, she's named after something as ridiculous as… No. 1. Or something. Otherwise she'd have to rail on Vexen endlessly about naming a faceless body Ino, or Noi, or… Oin? Larxene might just have to pull something out of her special bag of insults, for Oin.

Pff. Whatever. She'd wash her hands of this whole Xion situation anyways; she'd probably make buddy-buddy someone else. Maybe Demyx, that wet napkin. Anyways, that Castle Oblivion thing was coming up, and if all went well, then she and Marluxia would…

Ah.

Xion had just bumped into her, on the way to her quarters. Well, can't let her get away with that, can she…? The Savage Nymph had some reputation to uphold, after all.

"What, don't have any eyes underneath that hood? Watch where you're…"

And there she was, Strelitzia in the flesh. Unmarred. Unbroken. Like she'd jumped right out of her past, screaming for a name that Larxene buried a long time ago. Like ol' Elrena hadn't watched a slide-show of her dying, heart released and all, all that time ago in some forsaken house. Like she was alive. Like she was… there.

"...Going."

"..."

And Strelitzia, no, Xion just stood there. Stood there, and stared at her with that stupid, terrifyingly blank expression, while the older Nobody stared back just as blankly. Larxene tried to shake herself out of it, take hold of her non-existent heart, and ─ and what? What was she supposed to do, in this situation? This wasn't supposed to happen, the puppet wasn't supposed to be _her_, and yet…

"Do you… know who I am…?"

"..."

Larxene's voice hit her own ears like a brick, and it nearly snapped her out of her trance. She sounded so timid. In front of the newbie! Her pride welled up in her chest and lashed out at her; why was she being such a baby in front of the new recruit? Cowardice wasn't her thing, not even in the face of ─ in the face of _this_. She needed to save face, fast. She'd figure this out later. Figure _Strelitzia _out later.

"...Well, whatever. I'm Larxene. Hope you enjoy your stay with Organization XIII, however long that lasts. Just don't bump into me next time, or I'll make you regret it."

There. Some cold-hearted Nobody action, just for the little replica girl…

"Larxene… I'll remember…"

And immediately, despite all her efforts, Strelitzia was there again, that was her voice, that was ─ that was Elrena's friend ─ no, Larxene's ─

Larxene immediately turned away and hastily made her way to her room, practically stomping her heels into the perfect flooring of The Castle That Never Was. The clatter of footsteps almost rung in both their ears, before the Thunder specialist yanked open a door and subsequently shut the door behind her.

Xion thought she seemed angry. Maybe Larxene was always this way… And maybe it'd be best if she stayed out of her way.

Larxene, in reality, was losing her marbles, and was currently struggling to hold herself together. She immediately slumped onto her bed, holding her temples as she stared blankly at the void nothing underneath. That was ─ That was Strelitzia. She just talked to _Strelitzia_. At least, it looked like Strelitzia. Was it Xion? Was Xion Strelitzia?

(In the back of her mind, Larxene screamed. Partly because of the migraine, partly because of the existential crisis welling up in her.)

* * *

That night, Larxene couldn't sleep. She'd spent hours and hours under the coalescing form of Kingdom Hearts, trying to get some shut-eye, but... couldn't. And here she thought that maybe the dreams would wash her problems away, that she'd forget about the hallucination she just saw. Maybe a giant bouncing cat would squash the image of _Strelitzia's death_ from her mind, replaying over and over now that she'd been so thoroughly reminded.

Alas, there were no fun minigames in Larxene's periphery.

But if the Dandelions had taught her anything, it's that sleepless nights should be spent trying to be proactive and figuring out the mysteries of the world and people around you, rather than moping around, trying to wait for the panacea known as six to eight hours of rest.

(She cannot believe that she is referencing so much of her past, right now. She personally blames Xion ─ no, Strelitzia ─ would she stop it?!)

So Larxene pulled out her Hi-Ethers, snuck some craft items out of the store rooms, and started going full conspiracy theory, because… Well. No sleep queen here, she supposed. Besides, what was stopping her? The concept of time? Psh. Luxord had nothing on her.

So she starts drawing up diagrams and forming crude images of people. A hooded figure for Xion. Strelitzia, with her rose gold pig tails. Marluxia… slash Lauriam. Xemnas. Xigbar. Vexen. The little witch, as well. And… Well. Roxas and that Sora kid, too, she supposed, since they're the only other Keyblade wielders around that they've got tabs on. Top it off with the nobody sigil for Organization XIII, and her own beautiful face for the finisher.

...Okay. Art corner is over. Time for the crazy wall. Larxene lodged one of her daggers into the most important thing in the room ─ her. ...Her picture on the wall, that is. She didn't stab herself. Hush.

Obviously, she was recruited last out of the old blood of Organization XIII. By Xigbar. (_Stab_.) Xigbar, who works under Xemnas (_Stab_.), who's in charge of the entire Organization. (_Stab_.)

─ A Dusk came by, opening her door as if in inquiry to see what was wrong. She threw a dagger at it, instantly destroying it, before sending a clone to lock the door. Larxene rolled her eyes as the clone dissipated. Anyways.

Vexen's also part of the original Organization members: number six. (_Stab_.) He's the one who made Xion. (_Stab_.) And Larxene wasn't sure of the details, but Xion's made of memories, and that's as much she knows. And the little Strelitzia wannabe supposed to gain and use a Keyblade, by the end of it.

Xion _looks _like Strelitzia, but doesn't act like her, nor does she know or remember Larxene. Now, there's a few ways for that to happen:

A: She just looks like her. Like, full stop. That one's highly unlikely.

B: Xion's whole memory-person-thing might mess with someone's perception of her. Weird, but Zexion's done weirder with his illusions, so not entirely out of the ballpark. Still, pretty convoluted, so it's also kind of unlikely.

C: Xion's some sort of random shapeshifter. ...Nah.

D: Vexen found that projection of Strelitzia, took the data, and used _that _to make a Keyblade-wielding replica. As intensive as it sounds, that crazy scientist has Dusks looking up and down for Keyblades, and if they found that data… It's entirely possible. A bit more likely.

E: Vexen found Strelitzia and ─

Aquamarine eyes looked contemptuously at that last option that she wrote down and proceeded to impale the entire paper to the wall with a bit too much force, the electricity on the dagger singing the edges of the paper that it was in contact with. Answer E better not be true, or she's razing the entire Organization to the ground _herself_.

Marluxia… probably didn't know, so he was solidly at Larxene's side on the crazy wall. (_Stab_.) He's just wanted to overthrow Xemnas since the beginning. That witch girl might have something to do with the whole memory thing, so she's next to Vexen. (_Stab_.)

Finally, Roxas and Sora… Roxas doesn't even _have _memories, so he's relatively useless in that regard. Axel's supposed to look after that kid, right? At least until Castle Oblivion. Now, Sora's the one whose memories they're supposed to be rewriting. Was he supposed to be… connected to Xion? (_Stab_.)

And then there was a loud knocking on her door, and Larxene immediately knew this wasn't one of the lesser Nobodies. Shoot, if they see her doing all this, then they'll think something's up with her, and it'll be eternal nothingness for good! And she didn't even get to finish her crazy wall. Tch.

"Larxene. Are you still awake at this hour? There's been reports of strange sounds coming from your room."

Ugh. That lapdog, Saïx. Of course, make her day even worse. Springing into action, Larxene sent her full squadron of clones to take down the crazy wall along with her, all of them retrieving the Foudre and burning the crude art in their hands through the ol' faithful duo of voltage and current.

"Aw, can't a woman have her privacy?"

Unfortunately, the smell of electrically burning paper was very, very strong, and she needed to get rid of it, fast. Immediately, she opened up the blandly square window that led to the outside, applying a simple Aero spell to push all the smoke out ─

"Open the door. Now."

Man, she could just hear his terrible expression through the door. Larxene breathed a silent sigh of relief, having thoroughly covered her tracks, and finally opened the door for the blue-haired berserker. And, just as she expected, his disapproval was as endless as the nothingness beneath The Castle. As it always was.

"Explain yourself."

Larxene rolled her eyes.

"I couldn't sleep, so I started playing darts with myself. Or… knives, I suppose. Care to join? You'd make a great dartboard."

She flashed him a mirthless smile. But, as usual, Saïx was having absolutely none of it, that suck-up. Seriously, he was as bland as a frying pan. Actually, scratch that, even a frying pan would have more flavor and expression than he did on a daily basis.

"It's a disturbance. See to it that you find a less boisterous hobby. In fact, as punishment, you'll be the one to tutor Roxas tomorrow, rather than Marluxia."

"What?! Oh, come on, it was just a little ─"

"Save it. You were slated to tutor him at least once before your leave. Be happy I don't make you tutor him for all six days."

Larxene made a face, quirking the corner of her mouth into a clenched frown as she maybe-felt that familiar emotion ─ disgust. Ugh. Playing babysitter for six days? No thank you. Not when she suddenly has something so important to deal with.

"Tch. Fine, I'll try to sleep. Whatever."

Saix nodded wordlessly as he left, leaving Larxene to her own devices. She felt her entire body deflate, looking down at the still-singed remnants of her crazy wall art. ...It was the drawing of Strelitzia that she made. She stared at it, maybe for a little too long, maybe thinking a little too hard about it.

That night, she slept with it under her pillow.

She needed… She needed to know. What is Organization XIII up to…?


End file.
